I had several amateur fights before having a pro fight and I found it to be extremely beneficial. I had 3 amateur fights with NJ rules (no head ground strikes, shin pads) then I had 2 semi-pro fights (all gnp allowed, no shin guards). By gradually losing restrictions allowed for an easy transition from am to pro.

My old coach went straight pro because am fights weren't common at the time, but he wished he had the opportunity.

Am fights allow you to get experience without getting seriously hurt. Pro Mma it is very easy to get injuried.

I had several amateur fights before having a pro fight and I found it to be extremely beneficial. I had 3 amateur fights with NJ rules (no head ground strikes, shin pads) then I had 2 semi-pro fights (all gnp allowed, no shin guards). By gradually losing restrictions allowed for an easy transition from am to pro.

My old coach went straight pro because am fights weren't common at the time, but he wished he had the opportunity.

Am fights allow you to get experience without getting seriously hurt. Pro Mma it is very easy to get injuried.

I like the info. here. My question then would be how far apart do you think amateur fights could be for somone, with new venues popping up at smaller locations all over now, do you think it would be a pipe dream to have an amateur bout every 3-4 months?

I had 8 ammy fights all in Iowa. The rules here used to be exactly the same as pro(elbows,leg locks ECT) the only difference is the three minute rounds instead of five. I found them to be extremely helpful but looking back on it, Its kinda crazy. You got guys with little to no experience out there smashing eachother with elbows and knees. I understand the rules were changed as of jan 1. prolly a good idea.

If you stay in shape and don't cut to much weight you could fight once a month as an ammy. Having a ammy fight every three to four months would be no problem, there are lots of pro's that fight that often.

My self and another coach discussed this not too long ago and we agreed that if the fights are available then 10 would be a good number before turning pro. We won't let any of our guys go pro anymore without at least 6 wins.

Before you ever go pro you should be comfortable competing in front of large audiences. It doesn't matter how good you are in the gym, once you get in front of the people your skills will diminish. Why do you think boxers rarely "choke" on the big stage that we see MMA fighters do much more often? It's a numbers game. If you compete at an ammy level for a year before going pro, you will be much better as a pro.

Also, your ammy fights are like freebies, they aren't going on your pro record so you get to see how you like to fight and how you feel doing certain things in a fight as opposed to the gym.

I can see their would also be other factors like i.e. Trained for years decided to give it a go but are a little older and dont want to waste anymore time. Or financially you dont have the money to train truck aroudn to ammy tourney's and not get anything out of it, vs. Pro where you could atleast make back the cost of the trip

Before you ever go pro you should be comfortable competing in front of large audiences. It doesn't matter how good you are in the gym, once you get in front of the people your skills will diminish. Why do you think boxers rarely "choke" on the big stage that we see MMA fighters do much more often? It's a numbers game. If you compete at an ammy level for a year before going pro, you will be much better as a pro.

Also, your ammy fights are like freebies, they aren't going on your pro record so you get to see how you like to fight and how you feel doing certain things in a fight as opposed to the gym.

Santi,

Not to diminish you info. because its good, but basically your saying ammy fights are like invaluable high intensity sparring sessions you probably wouldnt be able to do in your own gym because you dont want to cripple or hurt your training partners. Thats a wicked point.

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